I Want You Back
by pyroesque26
Summary: Lance has spent the last few months depressed over his break up with Kitty. But when he finds out that she is now with Colossus, will he ever get over her?
1. Chapter 1

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: As usual, I own absolutely nothing._

_Warning: I sometimes write incredibly bad and my stories tend to suck. But I love the stuff I write anyway. _

Chapter 1: Can't Get Over You

Lance stared moodily at the picture of Kitty he had. Mind you, he had millions of them. He adored her and tried his best to be what she wanted, even though she always said that him being himself was enough for her. But somehow, he never felt it was ever enough.

The day they broke up was a very solemn day for him. It was as though his heart had been ripped out and stomped, left on the corner of the streets to rot. He vaguely remembered screaming. A whole lot. He had made her cry and it had killed him. She had left without another word to him.

Nothing was ever the same after that.

Lance, although he wasn't usually one to brood, spent more time in his bedroom, idly running his hands over the strings of his guitar as his mind drifted back to when he would play it for her in the park. His room was always cast in shadow due to him always keeping the curtains shut to keep out the sunlight.

Pietro had claimed that he was turning into Wanda and that it was freaking him out. His twin had hexed him for the comment and for a very short moment, Lance had cracked a smile in what seemed like months. But after that, Lance had returned to being an empty shell. Not even Fred and Todd's antics could help him come out of his funk.

The rest of the Brotherhood tried a range of things, including inviting John over. But it proved fruitless as the dark-haired teen didn't even glance at the pyromaniac's way as he attempted to put Todd on fire.

Lance often wondered whether or not Kitty missed him at all. He sure as hell missed her. Whenever he happened to pass by her and her group of friends at the mall during one of the rare times when he actually did go out, she never noticed him. Or, at least, pretended not to.

But during that one time when he watched her from the balcony at the upper level, his heart thudded painfully as he watched her laugh at something the princess had said.

He sighed and leaned against his headboard as he shook the memory away. It was painful, true, but sometimes he truly wondered if he wanted to forget.

Emotionally drained, he wished he could just sleep forever as he turned on his side. However, sleep wouldn't come as someone insisted on banging on his door and shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Alright, Alvers, that's it! You're getting out of that room, you hear me?" Wanda yelled.

"Leave me alone, Wanda!" Lance yelled back, putting a pillow over his head in an attempt to quell the noise.

"No way, Lance!" she said. And then, in a much softer tone, "Come on, Lance, we're worried about you. At least come out. Pietro, Todd, Fred… they're all worried about you. I'm worried about you. You've been locked up tight in your room for the past couple of days."

"I can't go out Wanda," Lance said helplessly as the door creaked open. "I can't go out there and pretend that nothing's wrong."

Wanda looked at her friend with worry in her eyes. As pathetic as he was at the moment, the look of lost hope in his eyes was enough to cause her to feel sorry for him somewhat. And almost to make her, the Scarlet Witch, start crying. Thankfully, she didn't.

"Lance-get-over-her," Pietro said from the doorway. He was starting to become sick of his best friend's moping.

"I can't," he said softly as he sought out a picture of him and Kitty on his bedside table.

"You're-being-pathetic," the speedster snapped, snatching the photo before he could reach it. He put to the other side of the room with the smiling faces faced down.

"You're right," Lance sighed, as he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling as his eyes stung slightly. And although he had the urge to cry, he held it back. "I am pathetic."

Wanda rolled her eyes, all feeling of remorse leaving her in an instant. "You know what, Pie, start the jeep, we're taking him to the mall," she said. She grabbed the keys to Lance's jeep before he could protest and threw them to Pietro who hurried out. "Look, Lance, I don't care if I have to drag you there, or hex you to come with us. You're coming."

Lance looked at her with weary eyes and when he finally realized that she wasn't going to leave the room, he finally gave in.

"Alright, just give me five minutes to wash up," he said as he sluggishly made his way to the bathroom.

"We'll be waiting," Wanda said and stormed out of the room.

Sighing, Lance grabbed a clean shirt and washed his face, and went down to meet the Maximoff twins.

"Let's get this over with," he muttered as he got into the passenger's seat. Usually, he'd drive and he'd be ticked off that Pietro was driving _his _jeep, but just for today, he let it slide.

They arrived at the mall in no time, and Lance was having second thoughts as the twins attempted to drag him out of the jeep with much success. He dragged his feet as he shoved his hands into pockets. He was sandwiched between Pietro and Wanda.

For the first hour, all they did was eat and for a few moments was slightly amused as Wanda and Pietro argued on which store to go first. Wanda had won and had dragged the two boys to Hot Topic.

After that, Pietro proceeded to drag them to another store where Wanda and Lance sat bored as he picked out clothes at a fast pace. Eventually, Pietro had convinced Lance to try on some and had ended up buying a sweatshirt out of pure annoyance of the male Maximoff twin.

When they left, Lance's heart practically died in his throat. He darted behind Wanda, who wasn't that much taller than him to begin with.

Entering the mall was Kitty, who was holding onto Piotr's arm. Rogue, Amara, Ray and Bobby were also there. Lance made a move as though to run the other way but Wanda had caught his arm before he got too far and started walking towards the X-Men.

"If you're going to get over her, you're gonna have to be able to at least face her," Wanda hissed. Lance struggled against her grip but stopped as they met the X-Men in front of a video store.

"Hey, Wanda," Rogue said, "didn't expect tah see yah here."

"Hey, Rogue," Wanda greeted back, nodding. She nudged Pietro and Lance and they hastily mumbled a "Hi."

There was silence between the two groups. Kitty was fidgeting nervously, and Piotr, sensing her discomfort, put an arm around her, aware that the rock tumbler was watching. Lance sighed and shook his head.

"You guys can take the jeep. I'll just walk home," Lance said. He nodded towards Rogue and the New Recruits and merely cold-shouldered the couple that was tearing him apart.

Wanda watched him nervously and Rogue pulled her aside, as Kitty and Piotr went ahead. The three younger X-Men walked off on their own and promised to meet up with Rogue, who had unfortunately landed the job of babysitting them, even though they were perfectly capable of going anywhere by themselves.

"He isn't ovah her, is he?" Rogue asked.

Wanda nodded. "It's killing him, Rogue," she said softly. Her eyes met with Pietro's. Care and worry were among the emotions evident in the male twin's eyes. "He can't live without her."

A/N: So, how was it? Think I should continue?


	2. Chapter 2

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_A/N: Okay, originally I was gonna write this from Lance's side of the story. But STIG (thanks for reviewing!) also wanted it from Kitty's side. So, it'll be Lance, Kitty, Lance, Kitty, and yeah. You get the picture._

Chapter 2: He's Not Over Me

Routine. It was all routine. Kitty woke up at 7 in the morning, unless there was an early Danger Room session at which she would be up by 6, got into the bathroom after Rogue, and would head down to breakfast. After breakfast, she'd either go and hang out with Lance or wait for him to come by to the Institute so that they could take control over the rec room.

But ever since she broke it off with him a few months earlier, the routine changed. She still woke up at 7, still took showers after Rogue, and still headed down to breakfast. But now she was spending time with Piotr Rasputin, Magneto's ex-lackey. In fact, she was going out with him.

But today, Kitty had decided to retreat to her bedroom, claiming that she was feeling under the weather.

She got under the covers and just laid on the bed for what seemed like hours. Unexpectedly, she felt the tears leak from her eyes as she stared at the plush cat toy that Lance had gotten for her when they had still been together. She used to go to sleep with it, along with Lockheed. But ever since they were no longer together, it lay forgotten on her cupboard, next to a picture of all the X-Girls.

Why was she choosing now of all times to think about him? She was in a happy relationship with a completely sweet and sensitive guy, who loved to draw. One of his drawings was pinned up on the wall of the two of them dancing under the moonlight. But was she truly happy?

"Oh, Lockheed," Kitty murmured. "What am I supposed to do?" There was a knock on the door. "Just a minute," she called, wiping her face hastily. "Come in." She sat on the edge of her bed as the door opened and Piotr came in. "Oh, hey, Piotr."

He entered the room and kissed her forehead gently. "Katya, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Piotr," Kitty lied. "Do you want to do something this afternoon?" Might as well try to do something to take her mind off of Lance. She cursed herself silently for lying to him. Here he was, being genuinely concerned over her, when she was just a few minutes ago thinking about her old flame. Trouble was, she couldn't be sure if the flame had died out entirely when she had left the bracelet on Lance's table all those months ago.

She stood up and bounded towards her closet, grabbing a denim jacket and putting it on. "Come on, I feel like going to the mall," she said, and grabbed his hand. "Come on, come on!" she said in a fake enthusiastic voice. She actually didn't feel like going to the mall. All she wanted to do was to stay in bed.

"Where ah you goin'?" Rogue asked as Kitty and Piotr passed by her in the hallway.

"The mall. You wanna come?" Kitty said.

Rogue stared at her and her eyes drifted from her face to Piotr's. Honestly, although she did admit that Lance could be an idiot sometimes, and Piotr was nice and all, but she liked it better when Kitty was with Lance.

"Fahne. But Ah'm drivin'," Rogue said. She headed towards the garage to start the X-Van.

"Okay, cool," Kitty said. "I want to get a drink first."

"Hey, can we come?" Bobby asked, poking his head out from the library. Amara and Ray appeared behind him.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Kitty said distractedly. "The more the merrier, right?"

"Alright!" Bobby said, exchanging a high-five with Ray. They had just been discussing what they were going to do that afternoon and the answer had come to them when they had overheard Rogue and Kitty talking.

Kitty pulled out the orange juice from the fridge and poured herself a drink. "Do you want some?" she asked Piotr, holding out the carton to him.

"Sure, Katya," he said. He took a mug with kitten patterns from the cupboard. As he drank, he watched Kitty with worried eyes. "Katya, are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Piotr," Kitty sighed. "I just need to get out of here, y'know? I mean, I've been, like, cooped up here for a really long time. Besides, a shopping spree at the mall should help me cheer up! Not that you don't cheer me up, Piotr," she added hastily.

Piotr smiled and nodded. "Then let's go," he said, holding it his hand.

Kitty took his hand happily. Now she remembered why she went out with him in the first place. He was kind and considerate, and never pushed her.

Both Kitty and Piotr waited out front as Rogue drove the car with Bobby in the passenger seat with Ray and Amara at the back. "Alright, you two, get in," Bobby said, smirking. "You guys can take the backseat. Just don't do anything that'll scar us forever."

"Very funny, Bobby," Kitty said, rolling her eyes as she and Piotr got in and took the bench-like seats at the back. Kitty raised an eyebrow as her eyes swept over Amara and Ray's joined hands, who were both looking straight with pink faces, pretending not to notice.

_Could they, like, get anymore obvious? _Kitty thought to herself, as she looped her arm through Piotr's and rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and had a soft smile on her face.

They reached the mall soon enough, but it took Rogue a good ten minutes to find a parking space. When they finally did, they hurriedly made their way towards the entrance.

"Alright, you guys do what you have tah do. Ah'll be at Hot Topic if yah need me," Rogue said as they passed through the sliding doors. "We'll meet back here at a quarter to fahve. Some of us have a Danger Room session. Logan told me to remahnd you three." She shot a meaningful look at the younger mutants. Then she mumbled to herself, "And Ah got stuck babysitting you three."

But just when they were about to part ways, Rogue, who was at the front of the group, spotted Lance and the Maximoff twins. She knew it had been a while since the rock tumbler had gone out. Wanda must've hexed him or something to make him come. She was about to suggest to Kitty and Piotr to turn to the left and start from there when she noticed the other Goth practically pulling the other two towards them. Well, scratch that plan.

"Hey, Wanda," Rogue said. She glanced behind for a second and noticed that Kitty had stiffened. This marked the first time the two had met face-to-face since the break up.

"Hey, Rogue," Wanda said. It was silent for a moment. She nudged the other two.

"Hi," both Pietro and Lance mumbled.

There was more silence. Kitty started moving around nervously as she felt Lance's eyes on her. It was making her uncomfortable. Maybe he hadn't gotten over her after all. She smiled at Piotr when he put an arm around her.

She heard him sigh. "You guys take the jeep. I'll just walk home," he said. She stiffened as he passed by them, not even giving them a look. She felt a pull at her heartstrings as Piotr started directing her towards the left.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rogue approach Wanda and Pietro as the other three headed towards the first floor. She could distinctly hear, "He isn't ovah her, is he?"

"It's killing him Rogue. He can't live without her," she heard Wanda say.

Kitty shut her eyes. She wanted nothing more to do than to cry. Maybe going to the mall had been a bad idea. As she walked off with Piotr, there was a single thought on her mind, _He's not over me._

_A/N: So this happens the same time as the first chapter. I'm gonna make it like that. 1st and 2nd at the same time, 3rd and 4th at the same time… you know what I mean. I'll just say now that I have no idea how to write English in a Russian accent. I mean, he kinda talks normally in the series. Or my hearing may be faulty. shrugs Who knows? Review! Btw, was this good enough?_


	3. Chapter 3

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: Ugh, wished I own it, but unfortunately, no. And there're also a tiny part here that belong to _One Tree Hill. _I love that show!_

Chapter 3: Bittersweet Memories

After the trip to the mall that was supposed to be much longer than an hour, Lance had walked to the park in an attempt to nullify the pain of seeing Kitty with another man. It hurt him to no end, especially when she didn't even acknowledge him. Had their relationship meant nothing to her?

With one hand deep in his pocket and the other clutching the bag that contained his sweatshirt, he made his way around the park as every tender and cherished moment spent with Kitty came floating back to his head, no matter how much he willed it to stay away.

"_Hah, you can't catch me!" Kitty cried over her shoulder gleefully as Lance chased her around the park as she phased through trees and bushes. Thankfully, the locals had decided to stay home and there were no hostile looks sent their way. And considering the fact that it was around eight in the evening helped._

_The sun had completely set by then as Lance attempted to catch her. He was slowly losing his breath. 'Man, when was the last time I was this out of shape?' he thought to himself as he panted. He could faintly hear her squeals somewhere to his right and a plan formed in his head as he hid behind a tree. It was wide enough to hide his whole being._

_He looked around the edge and smiled to himself as Kitty stopped when she finally realized she wasn't being chased by her boyfriend anymore. And suddenly, she grew scared._

"_Lance?" he heard her timid voice say. "Lance, where are you?" she said, raising her voice slightly even though it shook. "This is so not funny, Lance!" He could almost see her shiver as she rubbed her arms. "Lance?"_

"_Boogidy boogidy!" he said loudly, jumping out of the tree when he was sure she was close enough. He had has his arms in the air and a ridiculous expression on his face. What he thought would be a gleeful expression was actually a blow to the stomach. "Ah, Kit, you know you could kill me right?" he grimaced. She sure packed one hell of a punch._

"_Like, shut up! That wasn't funny!" Kitty snapped, scowling as she crossed her arms._

_Lance calmed himself down but the grin wouldn't fade from his face. He rolled his eyes as she turned away from him. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, Pretty Kitty," he said, giving her puppy-dog eyes. "Please forgive me?"_

_She made the mistake of looking at him. Her heart melted immediately at the sight and silently cursed herself for looking in the first place. "Alright," she said softly._

_His face split into a huge smile as he gathered her into his arms. "You okay?"_

"_No. I'm scared," she admitted. She buried her head into his shoulder. "Don't do that again, okay?"_

_He could distinctly remember the story she told him of how she got her powers. Sometimes, sleeping at night was hard for her because she was scared that she'd phase through the bed, down the floor and into the ground without stopping._

"_Alright. I promise," he murmured. And he never did again._

Lance smiled wistfully despite himself. He could still remember how mad Summers was when he had finally dropped her off, half an hour late for curfew. He sometimes wondered who was more protective; Wolverine, or the one-eyed leader.

Several girls giggled as they passed him, giving him looks. He simply ignored them and continued walking. It didn't matter if he was a mutant, especially to shallow girls. He knew the girls liked him as much as they liked Summers. He refused to acknowledge it.

He sometimes wondered why he even bothered. Back in Illinois, he wasn't the type to stick to one girl. But everything changed when he met Kitty during that fateful day in Northbrook.

_Lance and Kitty were at the mall, holding hands, painfully aware of the attention Lance was getting from the many girls who hung out there. Kitty looped her arm through his and leaned her head against his upper arm to show that he was hers._

_Lance chuckled at the obvious sign of jealousy Kitty was displaying._

"_You're not jealous, right, Kitty?" he asked, as they steered themselves into a CD store. He looked through the rack, but paid attention back to his beautiful girlfriend when she didn't answer. Her silence was the answer. "You are, aren't you?" She refused to meet his eyes._

_She said in a quiet voice, "You wouldn't cheat on me, like, ever, right, Lance?"_

"_I have no idea where you got that idea, but I'll always be true to you," he said softly, pushing a stray lock behind her ear. "Even if you were to break my heart, rip it out and leave it for the animals to eat."_

_Kitty smiled softly at the reassurance and kissed him on the cheek. They continued to browse through, with smiles on their faces._

Kitty was without a doubt the most beautiful girl he'd ever had the fortune to meet. Most people didn't see past the ditzy, Valley-girl persona. He was lucky that he was able to. To see that she was more than that. That she was more than meets the eye. He never forgot the day he fell in love with her.

"_Okay, so what do you think? Be honest," Kitty said, modelling Lance a white collared top and a pair of light brown smart pants with the cuffs flaring out a little._

"_I like it. Plain and simple," he said, approving. Actually, he could care less about what she wore. She was beautiful in anything. That and the fact that he wasn't entirely fashion-conscious. Unlike some people he knew. Namely his girlfriend and best friend._

_She looked at the mirror again with her bottom lip jutting out to the side and her eyebrows furrowed. "You know what? I think I'm gonna, like, find something else." She hastily walked away from the changing room. About five minutes later, she came back with an armload of clothes._

_Lance chuckled at her enthusiasm. He slouched slightly on the chair as he waited for her to come out. Each new outfit that she modelled looked stunning on her. But the last made his heart turn into goo. She was absolutely breathtaking. _

_She was wearing button-up white blouse that was slightly see-through. The sleeves went from a tight fit on her arms and flared out as it went down the length of her arm. She wore a loose, flowy multi-coloured skirt that swished around her knees. She had let her hair loose, leaving her hair to frame her face._

_Lance's heart was caught in his throat. She was absolutely breathtaking. And when he attempted to comment on it, it only resulted with a few gagging sounds and the repetitive blinking of his eyes. From the top to bottom, she was absolutely beautiful. And suddenly, and without an explicable reason, everything they went through together in the past came back full force. And he realized then, that he was in love with her._

"_You look absolutely beautiful," he finally choked out._

"_I guess it's a winner then," she chuckled._

He finally reached the Brotherhood boarding house. His jeep was already in the driveway.

"Hey, yo," Todd said as Lance entered. He merely nodded and went straight to his room, the door shutting behind him with a faint 'click'.

_A/N: You know what? Ignore my notes. Not all. Some may be important._


	4. Chapter 4

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns X-Men._

_Btw, sorry if the storyline goes all wrong and stuff. I have this memory problem (no, it's not Alzheimer's), and tend to forget things a lot. For example, I was supposed to cook dinner about two months ago, and I forgot, and my mom ended up having to order take-out. I was grounded for a week because of that. _

Chapter 4: Ironic

Kitty half-heartedly modelled some clothes for Piotr. However, she was able to keep a huge smile on her face every time he complimented her.

She couldn't stop thinking about how broken Lance seemed to look when he had seen them together. It didn't help when Piotr put his arm around her. She shook her, as she stood inside a cubicle, pulling on a red collared shirt.

She almost hated herself for thinking about Lance at a time like this. Especially since she was out with Piotr. She could remember back to when she and Avalanche were still together. No matter how much he complained, he would still be there for her to carry her shopping bags. Even though he did whine the entire time. She loved the look on his face every time she stepped out of the dressing room.

_Snap out of it, Pryde! _she scolded herself. _You're here with Piotr. A sweet, quiet and sensitive guy who likes you very much and who you like back. Stop thinking about Lance!_

She stepped out from behind the curtain and struck a pose. "Well, what do you think?"

"Beautiful," Piotr said simply and smiled softly at her, his eyes boring into her.

Kitty smiled back. Even when she was torn between him and Lance, it wasn't hard to remember what she saw in Piotr in the first place. "Let me get change. We'll head out for something to eat, alright?"

Without a word, Kitty went back into the cubicle and changed back into her clothes and picked off the ones she wanted. After they paid for her clothes, they left towards the food court.

"I'll go get us a seat, okay? The usual?" Kitty said, taking some of her bags.

"Sure, Katya," Piotr said, nodding.

She turned on her heel and found an empty spot towards the edge of the food court. She sat down patiently as she waited for Piotr to come with their food. It had been a while since she had eaten outside, and something that was in the junk food variety.

"_Alright, so what do you want, Pretty Kitty?" Lance asked, one hand holding the half of dozen bags or so of his girlfriend's shopping while the other holding onto her hand as they moved forwards in the line._

"_Um, just a veggie burger and large fries, will do, thanks," Kitty said, one hand clutching a bag of her own. She had not let Lance touch it, or take a peek inside. It was a gift for him. They were going to celebrate the anniversary of the first time they ever met back in Northbrook that night._

"_Alright, and I'll have a double cheese burger, and a large coke," Lance said._

_Kitty rolled her eyes. Men and big helpings of food. Lance grabbed a number. She dragged him off towards a seat at the edge of the court._

"_So, looking forward to tonight?" he asked, leaning back against his chair and toying with a napkin._

"_Definitely," she said, leaning over to kiss him. She smiled and sat back, enjoying the look on his happy-and-slightly-embarrassed face._

_He never thought that she'd be willing to do that in public._

Kitty shook her head from the memory. As she looked down at the table, she suddenly realized that this was also the table she and Lance used quite often whenever they were out. Most people stayed away from it. It was as if there was an invisible force field saying, 'Lance and Kitty's Table. Back off!'.

She cursed herself for choosing this table but smiled when Piotr finally came with their orders. "Thanks," she said. She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. She felt a sense of déjà vu taking over her. She looked confused for a moment when Piotr had said, "Not in public, Katya."

She shrugged it off and started eating her fries. If she had to honestly admit, she sort of did miss Lance. Sort of, being the keywords there. Apart from having all those blissful happy memories, there were also the bitter ones. Fights that caused her to cry more than once. Words that cut deeper into her than she had expected. Ones that she didn't need to remember.

But then again, Lance would always come back the next morning, even if meant Scott having to activate the defence system even though Lance had permission to come any time he wanted. But Lance would send a seismic wave to the ground claiming that, "Those things were always easy to take out." Then he'd go straight to her room, and knocked on the door until she opened it. There would be a guilty look on his face as he told her the sleepless night he had, thinking about the words they said. They would kiss and make up, and stay out until a few minutes before curfew. She could tell, too, that he hadn't had enough sleep. There were always signs of black smudges under his eyes.

She should be glad that she and Piotr never fought. Even if she was hanging out with Kurt or Bobby or any of the other guys, he never got jealous. If he thought something was up, he would ask her calmly and ask for her side of the story and she'd tell him honestly. She almost longed for the hot-headedness and jealousy of Lance and their fights.

"Katya, are you sure you're alright?" Piotr asked, nudging her arm.

"Huh?" Kitty said, snapping out of her thoughts.

"I'm really worried about you, Katya," he said. "Maybe we should head back to the Institute. Eet's almost 4.45 anyway. We don't have to go out tonight, eef you're not up to eet."

Oh, yeah. They were supposed to go out tonight to celebrate their six month anniversary. "Okay," she said, nodding. "Let's go rent some movies and buy tubs of ice-cream, though, okay? We can, like, take over the rec room or something."

After renting quite a number of chick flicks (as Evan had called them when he was still with the X-Men) and buying a tub of cookie dough, peppermint, and butterscotch, they headed towards the entrance where Rogue was already waiting.

"Hey, you two. Have you seen Bobby or the others?" Rogue asked as soon as Kitty and Piotr were both close enough.

Kitty shook her head. So did Piotr.

"Those three. And of all the tahmes to not bring their cell phones," she grumbled.

"Relax, Rogue, we're here. Amara had trouble choosing between a pink or a yellow halter," Bobby said, rolling his eyes as he, Ray and the princess in question came into view. He was met with a sharp hit in the back of the head, as well as a shock to the butt from Ray. "Torture the Iceman, why don'tcha?" he mumbled. "I should ice your hands together, or something."

"Are we ready tah go or not?" Rogue said exasperatedly before Ray could retort. "If Ah may remind you three, you have a Danger Room session with Logan."

"Why do we even need Danger Room sessions any more anyway?" Bobby asked. "I mean, Apocalypse is beaten right?"

Rogue groaned. That was the last time she brought Bobby shopping. Even if the majority of her time had been spent away from the eager teen.

They made it back just in time for the younger mutants to suit up and run down to the Danger Room. During the entire car ride, no one had said anything. They all remembered what had happened earlier on. Mentioning it to Kitty would probably result in virtual pain. Piotr had offered to carry Amara's bags to her room before joining his girlfriend in the rec room.

"So, what first?" Piotr asked, entering the rec room to find it empty except for Kitty who was sitting on the couch. She had threatened the rest of the students with their stereos and computers and cell phones if they didn't stay away from the room.

"Just pop in anything," she said.

"Alright," he said, and popped in _A Walk to Remember._

_Oh boy, _she thought, knowing she wouldn't be able to stop the waterworks, no matter how many times she watched it. There was a memory in the back of her head that told her she used to watch this with Lance too. _Don't think about it! _she scolded herself.

After the movie had ended, Kitty got up from her comfortable spot next to Piotr to put in a random _One Tree Hill_ episode.

Ironic how Nathan unconsciously changes because of Haley. Just like Lance unconsciously, but surely, changed because of her.

_A/N: Well, that's it. Mentions of _A Walk to Remember_ and _One Tree Hill_, which of course, I don't own. A Walk to Remember belongs to Nicholas Sparks, a writer who can touch the hearts. _


	5. Chapter 5

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: You know it, I know it, let's pretend now not to know it. It's annoying cuz I'll never be able to own it._

Chapter 5: More Bittersweet Memories

Lance dropped down onto his bed, dropping the paper bag by his dresser. In the edges he had stuck pictures of him and Kitty, as well as the Brotherhood's picture. One particular picture caught his eye.

It was back when they had just gotten back together after defeating Apocalypse. She had gone back to Northbrook for the summer and halfway through she came back. They were on their date at an Italian restaurant. Pietro and Todd had snuck into it and had taken a picture of the two of them having a blast. In the picture, his forehead had a straight red mark above his left eyebrow. He remembered how he had gotten it.

"_Aw, geez, Lance," Bobby said as he hurriedly closed the passenger door of the X-Van. He and the rest of the guys had just returned from grocery shopping and Lance had the misfortune of being directly in the opening door's way. "I'm sorry, man."_

"_Nah, it's alright," Lance said as he winced. He placed a finger on the forming bruise and winced even more as his finger made contact. "You couldn't spare me an ice cube or two, could you?"_

"_Let's go inside and I'll give you an ice pack," Bobby said, carrying two bags from the back. "They don't call me Iceman for nothing."_

_A few minutes later, with the rest of the younger X-Men in the background, Bobby was using his powers to produce ice cubes, depositing them in a Ziplock bag. "Here," he said._

"_Thanks," Lance said and gingerly put it to his forehead. "Could someone get Kitty for me?"_

"_I'll do it!" Jamie said eagerly as he left the kitchen. Lance chuckled at his enthusiasm. He remembered that Kitty had told him that Jamie had a tiny crush on her. He came back with three copies following him back. "She'll be down in a minute."_

"_Thanks," he said._

_Since he was looking down at the table, he completely missed her and only noticed her when she shrieked as he put his ice pack down._

"_Lance! Like, what happened to your forehead?" she asked, hurrying over to sit next to him._

"_Just bumped into a door, that's all. I'm fine," he said, giving her a thumbs-up with a lopsided grin. But as Kitty continued to fuss over him, he kissed her in mid-rant. "Really, I'm fine. It's just a little bump. Come on, I got reservations."_

He sat up and buried his head into his hands, tugging at his hair. He desperately wanted to be rid of the memories. But having her pictures caused an opposite effect.

He looked up and laid his chin on his intertwined fingers, staring at a wrist-watch that lay forgotten on his table across the room.

"_Happy birthday!" Kitty gushed, handing him box._

"_Oh, thanks, Kit!" Lance said. It was the end of Lance's nineteenth birthday party and he was in the middle of opening gifts. Not many people were there, considering he had little friends to begin with. But he was surprised when Rogue and Tabitha showed up with Kitty earlier that night._

_He opened the box and stared at the diamond-studded watch. The light reflected off each diamond, giving it a nice glow against the silver of the band. "Kit, this is way too expensive," he said._

"_Please take it, Lance," she said, taking the watch from the box and grasping his wrist. "I bought it for you and it's yours. Nothing you do or say is gonna make me return this." She fastened the watch around it. "Well, be honest, what do you think?" she asked the others._

_Against his clothes, it looked almost foreign._

"_It's nahce," Rogue said, nodding in approval._

"_But the clothes totally clashes with the watch, Lance," Tabitha said. "We're gonna have to take you shopping!"_

_Lance looked almostterrified at the idea._

He strode over to it, wrenched open the drawer and stuffed the watch in, grumbling to himself.

His mind drifted back to the scene back at the mall. Kitty holding onto Piotr's arm. Piotr putting arm around Kitty. That used to be his job. Not the big tin man who used to be Magneto's lackey.

He sighed. It was useless. His eyes spied a half finished pack of cigarettes and a lighter next to it. It had been a miracle that Pyro had not discovered it. He'd given up smoking after Kitty had stared at him in disapproval.

"_Lance, quit that," Kitty said as they sat on one of the many benches in the park. It was mid-afternoon on a Sunday and they had opted to go to the park. As usual._

"_Quit what?" he asked, blowing out smoke from his mouth._

"_That," she said, taking the stick from him and throwing it to the ground and crushing on it with the heel of her sandal. "You know that stuff can, like, kill you right?"_

_Lance just shrugged as he put an arm around Kitty._

"_Lance?"_

"_Yeah, Pretty Kitty?"_

"_Can you do me a favour?"_

"_Sure. Anything you want," he said._

"_Quit smoking, okay? I don't want to see you puff your life away," she said, putting an arm his waist as she leaned against his shoulder, ignoring the smell for just a moment._

_Lance sighed and considered saying he couldn't do it. But when he looked at her, all the hesitation melted away as he gave his answer, "Sure, Kitty. Anything for you."_

He stared at the cigarette pack for a few moments, ignoring the crashes outside his bedroom door. He seemed to be thinking deeply and quite suddenly, he darted towards the cigarette pack, pulling out one, and shoved the rest into his pocket, and grabbed the lighter before proceeding to walk down the stairs and out the door.

"Lance?" Wanda asked with her head poking out the kitchen entryway, her hands raised and covered in blue energy as she halted her hexing for a while.

Lance simply ignored her and went out with a slam of the front door.

He got the cigarette stick lit in no time. He took a long drag and breathed out, a playful grin at the corner of his lips as a drowsy feeling surged through him.

It was night-time by the time he went through the whole pack. 'Hm, have to buy more tomorrow,' he mused as he leaned against the wall. He breathed deeply and vaguely wondered for a moment if he was doing the right thing. Breaking his word. But then he reminded himself. They weren't together anymore. What did it matter?

"There you are," said Wanda. Lance glanced up and the Scarlet Witch walked over to him to stand next to him. "Ugh, you reek. I thought you quit?" She looked pointedly at the cigarette buds on the floor around his shoes.

"I started again," he said, shrugging. "It's not a big deal."

"It _is _a big deal. You could get cancer and die," she said.

"Aww, didn't know you cared, Wanda," he said sarcastically.

"Lance," she said, in an attempt to be patient.

"Do you want to know why I quit?" he asked suddenly. He didn't give her a chance to answer and continued. "I quit because Kitty told me to. Because she didn't want me to puff my life away, as she put it. For the whole two years that we were together, I didn't smoke, not even once, not even a measly drag. I kept my word. But we're not together anymore. It doesn't matter." _No, it does still matter, _he thought silently.

"You know, just because you guys broke up doesn't mean she doesn't still care about you. For all you know, there's a possibility that she still cares about you," Wanda said soothingly.

"Yeah, sure. Fat chance." And suddenly, just like that, he was back to being his moody self. "I just can't believe it's really over, Wanda. And the fact that she's with Colossus… it just shows that she got over me. Real quick. I just, I don't know what to do anymore." His eyes filled with tears. "It just hurts too much." He broke into sobs as the tears ran down his face.

Wanda looked surprised for a moment but hugged him, in an attempt to calm him down. With desperation, Lance only clung to Wanda as he cried, not caring that the rest of the Brotherhood were watching him with something akin to pity.

_A/N: I tend to repeat my words sometimes. Again, the memory thing. I think it was mentioned in the last chapter._


	6. Chapter 6

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: Why does she even bother? She owns nothing._

_A/N: Might suck. Like I said, my writing sometimes suck. Especially when you're writing it at 11.37pm on a school night. I did that for my Biology paper once. Didn't do so well, as expected. This chapter is a bit off from the story. I think._

Chapter 6: Family Matters the Most

After a very long kiss goodnight, to which Bobby had fake gagged in the background, Kitty retreated to her room. She was rooming alone now, now that Rogue had moved out of the room. It felt quite empty without the Goth there. When Rogue finally accepted the fact that Kitty saw her as a best friend, she started opening up to her. They'd talk at night about everything. One of Rogue's pet peeves of Kitty would definitely be her phone calls with Lance in the middle of the night.

But now, no more phone calls, no more whining. She should be happy, right? She was happy, she convinced herself. But sometimes, she couldn't help but feel that there was something missing. Like a void.

She had yet to tell Piotr that she loved him. After all, she did like him a lot. She knew loads about him and he the same with her. He also knew for a fact that she and Lance had dated. Piotr felt slightly threatened by him. After all, after the break up, she had literally shut herself in her room for two weeks straight, until finally, after Logan practically begged her, she came out. Piotr helped her to mend her wounds. It was how she went out with him in the first place.

Sometimes she questioned herself if she was just rebounding from Lance with Piotr. She thought back to when Piotr had first asked her out.

"_The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" Kitty asked, as she stoo__d out in the backyard. Piotr was with her._

"_Yes, they are," he said, but he was looking at her._

"_So," Kitty said, turning back to her companion, "What do you wanna talk about?"_

_He jumped, startled. "Have I told you how I came to be one of the Acolytes?"_

"_No," Kitty stood straighter, genuine interest in her eyes. "Tell me. I mean, that is, if you don't mind."_

"_No, no, of course not," Piotr said. He proceeded to tell her how Magneto threatened his sister's, Illyana's, life unless he joined him. To protect her and his family, he left Russia with Magneto._

_They stood in silence. Kitty looked away for a moment before turning her gaze back to the stars where she then tried to absorb everything he told her. What if Magneto had gotten to her parents and threatened their life unless she joined them? She shuddered at the thought. Her parents, although were going through a tough time at the moment, were the most important people to her. Other than everyone at the Institute of course._

"_Katya," Piotr said. There was a slight blush on his cheeks. "Would you, I mean, would like to – um – go out to dinner with me? Some time?"_

"_Sure, Piotr," Kitty said, a gentle smile on her face._

She sighed. She turned on her side and opened a drawer, her hands fishing for a photo that she knew was in there. It had been a while since she looked at it. It was one of three pictures that Lance had left of his family. And he had given it to her.

She finally found it. She recognized the bent edge of the photo. She took it out and examined it, holding it above her head. Lance was about eight years old or so, holding a little girl with the same shade of brown as Lance's and the same warm puppy-dog brown eyes. Lance was sitting on the edge of the sink with the little girl sitting in it. They both had soap suds all over them with the innocent smiles of youth.

"_Do you ever wonder where your parents are?" Kitty asked softly. She was nestled against him on his bed at the Brotherhood Boarding House. She had invited herself over after they had fought at the Institute. It was the first time that they had fought with her starting it. And over a really stupid thing, too._

_Both their clothes were slightly damp as it had rained when Lance left. It hadn't stopped when Kitty ran over. It wasn't the most comfortable things to be in, but at least they were clothes. Kitty wasn't ready to move on to the next level._

"_Not really," Lance mumbled into her hair. Family meant everything to her. She could sense a little sadness behind the phrase._

"_Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively._

"_My parents were alcoholics," he started after a heavy sigh. "I have a little sister, Leanne, who was four years younger than me. Our parents, my dad especially, used to beat us when I was around nine. But more on me because I always tried to defend Lee. One day in school during gym, my coach noticed I had quite the collection of bruises on my leg. So he reported it to the school. Who then reported it to social services. A pair of social workers came to the house unexpectedly, saw the condition the house was in, and took us away. The house hadn't always been like that. It had been much, much nicer. And liveable. Leanne was luckier than me. She got adopted about a couple of days after. Me, I wasn't so lucky._

"_I moved from foster home to foster home once I turned thirteen. Everywhere I went, no one wanted me. I tried finding my sister in hopes that I could maybe join her and her family. But I couldn't find her. Not a trace. Apparently the family had moved away from Northbrook. So I was pretty much alone. My foster parents didn't want me, the teachers didn't want anything to do with me… none of them. Even my so-called friends. Griff and Pete? Well, they're idiots. They didn't care, much less, gave a thought about me."_

"_So you've always been alone?" Kitty asked, reaching up to cover his cheek with her own hand, feeling moisture slide between her fingers._

"_The point is, Kitty, I'm not alone anymore," he said, turning to her. "I've got you. You _and_ the Brotherhood. You're my family now, Kitty." Kitty felt the tears sting her eyes. "I love you so much," he whispered, looking at her tenderly as he covered her hand with his own._

"_I love you, too," she whispered back before his mouth closed down on hers._

"Lance and Leanne," Kitty whispered, staring at the innocent faces. They would never have thought that their seemingly perfect life would come crashing down around them when their parents started drinking frequently.

She was lucky that she was born into a family that cared about her. She had always been surrounded by people who loved her. Except when she had started high school. Her friends from middle school had practically ditched her on their first day to be with a more popular group. Popularity meant nothing if you didn't have any real friends.

Which was why she was glad she had everyone at the Institute. Scott, Jean, Logan, Ororo, Kurt, the Professor, to name a few. If anything happened to them, she would practically be the first one there to help. When she had discovered that Evan had gone missing after his skating competition, she had become immensely worried. They weren't even that close at all. But they did have their moments.

Even when she knew she was one of the few people that he considered family, she had still broken up with him and took away the one thing that mattered most to him. Her.

She had broken up with him because she couldn't take the pressure anymore of Scott, Logan and Kurt hounding on her about him all the time. She knew it was a stupid reason to break up with someone you loved so much. She reasoned that if she had told him that this was the reason why she was doing it, he would have been a lot more angrier. Was he angry when they had broken up?

Yeah, she remembered something about not being faithful to him. It had hurt her so much to hear him say those words.

But now, no matter how much she wanted to love Piotr, she knew that a part of her heart still belonged to Lance.

After all, they were family.

Right?

One thing was for sure, she needed time to love Piotr the way she loved Lance.

_A/N: How di dee. Chyah. So, as usual (I seem to always type this out), tell me if it sucked and if it needed any adjustments. I'll redo the whole thing over again. Like I said, I was doing this in the middle of the night. Every time I write a good scene of Kitty/Piotr, it leaves a bad feeling in my fingers. And my mom just walked in on me and told me to go to sleep. Sigh Parents, can't live with 'em, and will never be able to live with 'em. _


	7. Chapter 7

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: Nope, ain't gonna own it. Not even after I get married and have bouncing, barfing, shrieking babies._

Chapter 7: Confrontation

"I called the garage and told your boss you couldn't come in," Wanda said when Lance walked into the kitchen at 11 the next morning.

He looked like a mess. Bruises were under his eyes from the lack of sleep as his hair was more dishevelled than usual.

"Call him back," he snapped as he took a seat next to Fred who was going through his third helping of cereal. "I'm working. I have a job to support you guys."

"Look, Lance, maybe-she's-right, maybe-you-should-stay-home-today," Pietro said, setting a bowl in front of him and pouring the older mutant cereal.

"Thanks," Lance said, then frowned. One, for Pietro who was pouring his cereal for him when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. And two, for Wanda calling his boss claiming he couldn't come in. "Look, it's nothing alright. I can go to work. It's not like I have a hangover or anything."

Pietro looked to his sister for help. "Well, he does have a point," she said finally with a sigh.

"Hey, yo, when you come home from work, can you buy me some new mouthwash?" Todd asked.

"Sure, Todd," Lance said. He turned to his bowl and started eating. After that he took a shower, got into the jeep, and drove off to his job.

"Lance? I thought you weren't coming in today?" his boss, Rick Anderson, asked.

"Change of plans, Rick," Lance said as he went to the back to put his overalls on. "It's not like I got shot or anything. 'Sides, I have a family I need to support."

"So dedicated," Rick said. "Well, get to work. Garage 3 has a car there that needs some major repairing. Collision with a tree. It's half done already so there's not much you need to do."

Lance inwardly groaned as he set to work with another man who was ten years his senior. They were done by two in the afternoon.

He was enjoying his break watching TV and drinking cheap beer. He sighed as another memory invaded him.

"_Lance," Kitty said, staring at him pointedly with her hand held out. She was at his workplace. They had originally planned on hanging out the entire day but Rick had called and had needed him to come in._

_Lance grumbled, "It's just cheap beer," but gave the can to her anyway._

"_Good boy," she said, patting his head and giving him a kiss on the cheek as the rest of his co-workers howled with laughter._

"Everything's gotta be a living memory with you, doesn't it?" he mumbled under his breath.

A tow truck came in about half an hour later with a silver convertible. Riding in the passenger seat of the truck was, oh joy of joys, Piotr. He was cursing in his native language.

Instantly, Lance felt sick and now wished that he had just stayed at home. He wished that he hadn't snapped at the others. Heck, he actually wished that he was in a whole load of pain, crying on his bed with his door and windows bolted shut.

"Put her in Garage 3, Lou," Rick said. "Lance, give these papers to the owner to fill in."

Lance nodded numbly. Clutching the papers he walked nervously towards Piotr. But as he got nearer, he suddenly found the whole thing stupid and strode quickly to him.

"You have to fill these, sir," Lance said.

Piotr looked up confused for a moment then realized that Lance was standing there. "Wait, aren't you-"

"Lance Alvers, a.k.a. Avalanche. Yeah. What's it to you, tin-man?" he sneered as he crossed his arms. "You have to fill these."

"I heard you the first time," Piotr said. He frowned. There was something itching at the back of his brain. And then he remembered. This guy used to go out with his girlfriend. "After I fill these, can I have a word weeth you?"

Lance shrugged and walked away. He started examining the car without much interest. After all, why did he want to help out his ex-girlfriend's current boyfriend?

"Here," Piotr said, handing him back the papers. "Can we talk?"

"Rick, I'm taking five!" Lance yelled. He followed Piotr out. "So talk."

"I want you to stay away from Katya," he said.

"Who?" Lance asked, confusion on his face.

"Katya. Or Keety as you call her, am I right?" the Russian said.

Avalanche frowned. "Look, me and Pryde are over, tin-man. I'm over her. I don't care about her. Have her for all I care." His heart thudded painfully as he said the words that were lies.

"That ees not true," he said. "I saw the way you looked at her at the shopping complex the other day."

"So what? I wouldn't be the first to make goo-goo eyes at her," Lance snarled, rolling his eyes. "Kitty's pretty attractive, though, isn't she? Blue eyes, silky brown hair. She could have any guy she wants, anytime she wants, and yet she goes for you. I seriously wonder why that would be. And, oh, just a few months after our break up. It almost makes me wonder if she ever was faithful to me. Heck, I know I was!"

"Stay away from her, or else."

"Or else what tin-man?" Lance challenged, clenching his fist as the ground rumbled slightly.

Piotr didn't answer. He focused and his hand turned into metal. He grabbed a metal pole and effortlessly crushed it. "Or that'll be you," he said, flinging the pole at Lance. He strode over to Rick. "When will it be fixed?"

Lance drowned out the voices as he willed himself to calm down.

He had no right… absolutely no right to threaten him if he came close to Kitty. He vaguely wondered if he could lure him into an alley after work and perhaps attempt to kill him and bury his body where no one will ever find him. Tch, tin-man threatening him? He who could destroy the entire earth if he had that much power? It was absolutely appalling.

But then, he sobered up from his anger. If he killed Colossus, Kitty wouldn't be happy. Heck, she'd probably be even more devastated than she was when they had broken up. And if anything, it would only probably increase Kitty's indifference towards him. He instantly felt guilty about what he said about Kitty. He had known her better than anyone else and yet she had accused her of seeing Piotr behind his back. He knew she had been faithful towards him. She always had. Even when Scott had claimed she was seeing someone else behind his back in an attempt to break them up, he still took Kitty's side. Even when Kitty would sometimes blow him off to hang out with Kurt and Bobby, Lance knew that he had her heart, as she did his. He never had problems of her loyalty to him. He shook his head. A mild headache was slowly forming.

"Rick," Lance said through gritted teeth as he interrupted Piotr and Rick's conversation. "I'm not feeling too good. I'm gonna head off early. I'll make it up tomorrow."

"Alright, Alvers. Get better. And you better be here at 9 a.m. sharp!" Rick said sternly as Lance shed the overalls. He went to his jeep and got in and drove back home.

He stopped by at a store to buy Todd's mouthwash. As he waited for the cashier to ring his sales up, his eyes darted towards the many brands of cigarettes lined behind the cashier's head.

"Two boxes, please," he said, and pointed to one.

He paid for it and returned home.

"Uh, hey guys. Lance's home early!" Freddy said from his position on the couch. "Did you get food?"

"Sorry, Freddy. I'll pick up something tomorrow. Give this to Todd will you? I have to go lie down," Lance said and retreated to his bedroom.

Once there, he closed the door behind him, took out a pack, and puffed his life away.

_A/N: Okay, I absolutely suck at confrontations. The only confrontation I had ever been in was when I accidentally took someone else's bag by mistake. As it so happens, our bags were identical. A stupid thing to be confronted by really. Ugh. So tell me how it was. Give me suggestions so I can repair the worthless piece of crap I typed up. Oh, and for the most part, I have no idea how long they work on cars. Whenever my dad sends the car for servicing, I'm always at school. Heh._


	8. Chapter 8

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: By all means, sue me if I said that I owned X-Men: Evolution and everything related to it. But for the most part, I don't own them. So don't sue me._

_A/N: I couldn't come up with something for the day after Chapter 6. So this chapter is in replace of Kitty's side during Lance's convo with Piotr. Mild writer's block, y'know? If I don't get this done now it'll never get done. So here it is. Chapter 8 of I Want You Back._

Chapter 8: I Want You Back

Lance laid down on his bed with his hands behind his head, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. His thoughts went back to the confrontation with Piotr earlier today. His mind soon drifted back to their break up. Right in this room, eight months ago.

"_Hey," Lance said, a smile on his face as Kitty entered his room. He hugged her tight. She had called him about an hour ago to tell him that she was coming over._

"_Hey," she said softly. She wouldn't meet his eyes._

_They sat silently on the bed. But somehow, the usual comfortable silence had turned awkward and tense. Lance frowned when Kitty moved his hand away from his._

"_Okay," Lance sighed, finally breaking the awkward silence. "What's wrong?"_

"_Wrong? Nothing's wrong," Kitty said nervously, fingering her necklace. "You're being ridiculous Lance."_

"_Just because I'm pretty dense half of the time, doesn't mean I don't know there's something wrong. Especially with my girlfriend," he reasoned._

"_Like I said, Lance, there's absolutely nothing wrong," Kitty said._

_He thought for a moment. "Okay, if there's nothing wrong, then why won't you look at me when we're talking?"_

_Kitty was speechless. She finally faced him. "Alright, you want to talk. We'll talk. And you know what, we do need to talk." The five most deadly words in the English dictionary. Lance gulped as he looked at the furious look on his girlfriend's face._

"_Lance, I – I think we should break up," Kitty said softly, looking away from him, the angry tone in her voice gone. She rubbed her wrist as she waited for his reaction. What would he do? Would he start yelling? Or would he start making earthquakes?_

"_Oh," Lance said after a moment. His heart had, for a moment, stopped completely as her words finally registered into his head. He felt numb all over. He couldn't feel his limbs. "Who is he?" he asked quietly, his eyes diverted to the ground._

"_What?"_

"_Who – is – he?" he asked slowly._

"_There's no one else, Lance!" Kitty snapped. "I just think that we should be apart for a while," she said in a much calmer tone. "I mean, we've been together for a while now, and, well, we haven't exactly thought about what our future is going to be like."_

"_It's Colossus, isn't it? Ever since he moved in at the Institute," Lance continued furiously._

"_I did not cheat on you with Piotr! Look, would you just listen to me?"_

"_Oh, I'm sorry, I don't listen to whores," he spat, flinging her hand away as she made a move to touch his arm. _

"_Excuse me?" Kitty asked, her tone deadly. "What did you just call me?"_

"_A whore. I said it the first time, or are you just deaf?" Lance said. "I should've known. You probably never really were in love with me, were you? All those talks of how you were in love with me, and how much I meant to you… they were all bull."_

_Kitty stared at him, disbelief on her face. She stifled back a sob as a tear slipped down her cheek. Lance immediately felt guilty._

"_Kit, I'm sorry," Lance started. He felt his voice die in his throat as he felt his own eyes well up with tears. He couldn't lose her. Not now, not like this. Not when his life was finally starting to make sense._

_He hugged her as they both cried. "Please, Kitty, can't we at least talk about this?" he choked. He loved her so much._

"_Lance, please, don't make this any harder for me," Kitty said, sighing as she pulled away. She turned away from him and walked out the door, not before pulling off a bracelet and putting it on his dresser._

_Lance turned around slowly and stared at the closed door and the bracelet he'd given to her._

'_Wear this as long as you love me, Kitty. Love, Lance' were the words that were engraved on it._

Lance rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the moisture. This room. In this room they broke up. After Kitty had left, his emotions took over his powers as the house shook. But it had faded soon after.

Right after that, he had stayed up in his room, refusing to cry for a long time. But when he finally did decide to cry, it was a long time before the tears stopped.

Every memory rushed to his mind after he closed his eyes to fall in a deep slumber. Every loving word, every loving touch, every loving tenderness. Everything. His arms ached to just hold her and his ears yearned to hear her voice.

"I love you, Kitty," he mumbled in his sleep, tossing and turning. Even every bad memory was coming back to him. The first time they broke up during the school board meeting. The ignorance that followed. The worry of seeing Kitty stuck through the glass wall of the alligator cage. The feelings he felt when he saw how much Kitty was wiped out after their short and brief 'Brotherhood are Heroes' time when she tried to phase the runaway engine through eight tanks of gas. The ecstatic feeling when Kitty had appeared on their doorstep, only to find out that she was only there to recruit to help fight against a possessed Magneto. And then later, the scared feeling he felt when he saw her lying on the ground unconscious. The intense jealousy when he found out that Colossus and Gambit had moved in at the Institute. The fight they had later that night, fuelled by his jealousy. Everything.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the living room, the rest of the Brotherhood were gathered there, trying to think up of something to cheer Lance up. It was fruitless however.

The next morning, Lance woke up, tearstains on his face. Sighing, he sat up and scratched his head. He didn't feel rested at all. If anything he felt sore all over. Even his heart thudded more painfully than normal.

He sighed again. His eyes sought out their two-year anniversary photo that hung on the wall. They had gotten Wanda to take a picture of it on the condition that she left straight after. She had just shrugged at that.

Sparkling, crystal, blue eyes. Long brown hair that felt like silk against his own rough skin. Full, pouting lips. A very cute nose. Her petite self against his own much taller one. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to drown out the voices in his head telling him to go get her back.

"God, Kitty, I want you back…" he said hoarsely, tears leaking out once more from his eyes.

_A/N: There you have it, Lance finally says the title of the story. You know, this whole chapter is kinda more-than-slightly messed up. I'm not even sure what I was writing half of the time. So tell me if this sucks, so I can repair it._


	9. Chapter 9

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

Chapter 9: Of Boredness, Ice Cream and Phone Calls

Kitty was bored. Actually, bored was an understatement. She almost felt like going through a Level Ten Wolverine Sim. Almost. However, she was ready to pull her hair out from boredom.

Males dominated the population at the Xavier Institute. In fact, the only girls who were there were herself, Rogue, Jean, Amara and Ororo. Tabitha had re-enrolled into the Institute but had gone home to her mother for a while after she heard that her father was really put into jail this time. Rahne was still in Scotland, and Jubilee was also still in California. But according to Bobby, there was a high chance that she would be coming back. Apparently, Jubilee had set the couch on fire and had short-circuited quite a number of electrical appliances.

Every single male, headed by Wolverine and Mr McCoy in the guise of a holowatch but with a different visage instead of his former one, were shopping for necessities. Kitty had to suppress a giggle. Men and shopping should not be put together. She could already imagine Scott groaning and whining the entire time.

She could always hang out with the girls but Rogue had gone out with Amara to buy CDs. Ororo was tending to her garden and Jean was visiting her parents for the weekend.

Kitty had tried to find some things to do. Cleaning up had first popped into her head. She asked the weather witch if any room required cleaning. Ororo had informed her that everywhere else, besides the boys bedrooms, were cleaned. She had raised an eyebrow in question to the challenge of going through the boys' messy rooms. Kitty had shook her head and had immediately went out.

She went to the library next. She had read _A Walk to Remember _and _The Wedding_ but after trying to search for another book to read, she gave up. The library was large enough to store books of every kind. And she would have taken out one of Shakespeare's works and would immerse herself in it, but today, she didn't feel like it.

She went to e-mail her parents but after that, she was standing out in the balcony of her room, thinking of something to do. She had gone through the DVD collection but even they couldn't help her out of her bored mood.

Sighing, she went back into her room and closed the balcony shut. It was oddly chilly that morning.

She sat on the bed and laid down for a while. Her thoughts were all jumbled into a huge messy pile. If she asked Jean to help her sort through it, it would only jeopardize her relationship with Piotr. There were Lance-related thoughts that Jean didn't need to know about. Secrets that he didn't want anyone to know.

She hesitantly got up from the bed to walk to her closet. Behind her huge collection of shoes, she took out a box, that, as clichéd as it was, contained almost everything Lance had given to her. She had meant to give it to him back. But somehow…

Inside it were pictures of him, and of them together. An array of dolls and plush toys as well as jewellery. Scraps of paper that were sent to lockers and in between classes before he had been expelled. A few CDs that he had burned for her using Pietro's computer.

She picked up a picture and smiled at it fondly. It had been during Scott's birthday party about a year ago. She had invited Lance to the party much to Scott's annoyance. Kitty had stood by Lance and told him she refused to kick him out. Scott had no choice, despite it being his birthday, but to ignore him for the entire afternoon. She knew it hadn't been fair to the fearless leader. But she had asked him if she could invite a friend over. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't been paying attention much.

Unfortunately, someone had decided a cake-and-ice-cream war would lighten the party up. And it sure did. Pretty soon, scoops of ice cream were flying through the air and chocolate cake complete with icing and whipped cream were thrown around. The targets were usually the person's clothes and face. (1)

In the picture, Lance's face was covered with whipped cream and strawberry ice cream as well as vanilla and butterscotch. It made quite a clash against his skin. Kitty's hair was covered in chocolate syrup that Kurt had squirted as he teleported from area to area. Her face had chocolate smeared across her forehead and her face was covered in peppermint ice cream and whipped cream. Both their clothes had different colours from the ice-cream. If she remembered correctly, Professor X had actually offered to take a picture of them. Something about the 'wondrous times of youth'.

She picked up a spiral-bound notebook and opened it. Stuck on the pages were Lance's little notes. The first five pages had been when they had first started going out before mutants were exposed. But the next dozen pages or so were of those after Apocalypse. Lance would get Pietro to send them to her room, the rec room, the foyer, the kitchen. Anywhere where he was sure that she would find it. And she had found every single one of them, fondly sticking them in her book and reading them over and over again before bedtime. To her, it had been better than any best-selling novel ever sold.

_Just been thinking about you a few minutes ago. Still am, actually. Miss you. xo _(2)

Around this particular note, which just happened to be her favourite note, were pink glittery hearts of different sizes and styles. She had called him up straight after.

"_Hey, it's Kitty," she said, smiling._

"_I'm guessing you got my note then?" he asked. She could almost sense the smile playing on his lips. "I really do miss you, y'know. When do you get off being grounded?"_

_She had gotten grounded for being an hour late for a curfew. Aside from that, the same night, she had snuck out for a while. But when she had gotten back, Logan had been waiting for her with a cup of coffee. She was grounded for a month for breaking the rules. Hey, she had to live a little. Even if cats did have nine lives._

"_In a week or so," she said. She glanced at the picture of the both of them on her bedside table and smiled. "I miss you, too."_

"_It's nice to know," he said._

"_Kitty, get off the phone with Alvers, now," Scott's voice voiced through._

"_Ugh, Scott!" Kitty said in indignation. She felt a lecture coming and had hurriedly said, "Alright, alright, just let me say bye first, okay?" The line went clearer. "I've gotta, like, go. Sorry."_

"_It's alright. I'll see you in a week, kay? I love you."_

"_I love you, too," she said before hanging up._

Kitty sighed. Gone were the days of sneaking out and nightly phone calls that drove Scott crazy. She frowned. If it weren't for Scott, or Kurt, or Mr Logan, then she wouldn't have had to break it off with him in the first place. Their constant naggings and insults of him had caused her to break down in her room the day she broke up with him.

She helplessly rubbed at her eyes. She couldn't help but cry at the moment.

But at that exact moment, someone had chosen to call.

_A/N:_

_(1) This actually happened last year and earlier this year in school. It was my friend's party and a friend of ours took his uneaten cake and shoved it on another one of our friend's face. Needless to say, it turned into war. We got sent to the office after that. Heh. And ended up cleaning the hallways and our classroom after school._

_(2) Ahh. A text my cousin's boyfriend sent to her._


	10. Chapter 10

**I Want You Back**

****

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing at all._

Chapter 10: You

Finally admitting to himself that he wanted her back, he felt worse than ever. He didn't just _want_ her back; he _need_ed her. He needed her in his life. He realized now that she was the one who made him complete.

The problem was, even if he was able to tell her the fact that he still loved her, would be pointless. He knew she'd stay with Colossus. And he would only end up rejected and with even more heartache than he could possibly take.

All this was making his head hurt.

He groaned in frustration and kneaded his scalp with his hands. He looked towards the wall and cursed. _Crap, I'm late, _he thought. He was supposed to be at the garage in ten minutes to make up for coming home early yesterday. Pushing his thought of his messed up love life away for just a moment, he hurriedly took a shower and headed off without any breakfast. No use getting fired.

His jeep screeched to a halt just outside the garage. He was about ten minutes late. This was just not his morning.

"Rick, I'm sorry, man. I overslept," Lance said, quickly putting on his overalls.

"Just get to work, Alvers," Rick replied.

Lance nodded and went to Garage 3. Tin-man's car was still there. There was a yellow note tacked to the cork board over the table where they kept the tools. _Finish by one. Owner coming – pick up. Name – Piotr Rasputin, _the note said. He snorted when he saw his name.

Great, now he had to see him two days in a row. Grumbling to himself, he went to work. Hopefully Lady Luck was on his side.

His working partner came around half past ten and between the both of them, they got the job done much faster. By the time that it was a quarter to one, the both of them were taking a break.

But when one o'clock finally came, Lance was left in charge of the car. Time passed and there was still no sign of the Russian man. He was quite irritated and was slowly becoming bored. There was nothing good on TV, so he watched the news, cursing.

_I wonder if he's ever late for picking Kitty up on their dates, _Lance thought. He mentally slapped himself. _Of course not, you idiot! They live in the same house for crying out loud!_

_He cursed as he attempted to put on his tie and wear his jacket at the same time. He was really running late and he knew that Kitty would be absolutely furious with him. He took a deep breath as he stood at the foot of the stairs. The rest of the Brotherhood were watching something on TV in the living room._

_He breathed in and put on his jacket before putting on his tie properly. _

"_Hey, guys, I'm leaving now. There's some money in the jar. I ordered pizza for you. That's okay, right?" Lance asked in a rush. He almost sounded like Pietro. He was practically jogging in place. He was so, so dead._

"_Yeah, yeah, now-go-pick-your-kitty-cat-up-before-she-claws-you," Pietro said, waving him off._

_Lance couldn't help but grin slightly. He grabbed the flowers off the kitchen counter and went out before proceeding to quickly drive to the Institute._

"_You're late," Kitty said._

_Lance gulped. Absence of valley-girl talk. First sign of badness. Second sign, everything else: crossed arms, tapping foot, a frown on her face instead of the usual dazzling smile._

"_I know, and I'm really, really, sorry, Kitty," he said. He took out the flowers from behind him. Pink roses surrounding white tulips. "For you, mademoiselle," he said, holding them out to her._

_Kitty's frown softened and she took them from him. "They're beautiful, Lance," she said. She brought them up to her nose and breathed in the heavenly scent. "Thank you."_

"_Does this mean I'm forgiven?" he asked hopefully._

_Kitty just smiled and took his arm. He turned him around so they could pose for Professor Xavier who had a camera. She tiptoed and kissed his cheek. "Forgiven," she whispered. She handed the flowers to the Professor so he could put them in a vase for her room. "Let's go."_

More memories to remind him of the good times. A smile played at the edge of his lips. They had their ups and downs. Fortunately more ups than downs.

He glanced once more at the clock. It was almost half past two. Where on earth was this guy? He was about to take another drink when he heard a voice that made him stop.

"I'm, like, so sorry. I'm Kitty Pryde. I'm here to pick up Piotr Rasputin's car," she said to the secretary. "I, like, sorta got lost. Silly me."

"Piotr Rasputin? And what sort of relation do you have with him?" the secretary asked, looking through a pile of slips.

"I'm his girlfriend," she said with a slight smile, "He couldn't make it so he told me to, like, pick it up."

Lance felt his heart sank when he heard her say proudly that she was his girlfriend. At this point, he couldn't possibly tell her he still loved her.

"Hmm, Rasputin, Rasputin. Ahh, here it is. Garage 3. Give this to the man in charge," the secretary said.

"Thank you," Kitty said and took the slip from her.

Lance saw her make her way towards Garage 3 with the slip in hand. He turned around and pretended to rearrange the tools on the table so he wouldn't have to face her. Maybe, if he was quick enough, he could ask one of the others take the slip for him…

"Um, like, excuse me? I'm here to pick up Piotr Rasputin's car," she said, with a soft knock on the wall.

"Um, yeah, here it is," Lance said, still not looking at her.

"It's, like, more polite to look at someone in the face when they're talking to you, you know," she said indignantly.

There were two possible reactions from her when he turned around. One, she could possibly try to muffle a scream as she looked at him with surprise. Or, two, she could walk away without a word.

Lance sighed and finally turned around. "Here're the keys to the car, miss," he said politely, trying to ignore the drumbeat of his heart.

His eyes were still looking towards the floor. There was no sound coming from her. But her feet had yet to move. Instead, he saw the pick-up slip flutter to the floor.

"You," she said softly, her eyes void of any emotion.


	11. Chapter 11

**I Want You Back**

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns X-Men._

Chapter 11: Friends?

Kitty gulped. She took several deep breaths as the phone continued to ring. After finally regaining her composure, she picked it up. "H-Hello?"

"Katya, it's Piotr," the thick Russian voice said.

"Oh, hey!" she said, brightening up slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, everything is fine. I theenk. Anyway, we'll be here for a while, maybe unteel afternoon. I need you to do me a favour. That ees, eef you don't mind?"

"Of course not! I'm, like, bored anyways," Kitty said, tucking her hand behind her ear.

"Okay. Katya, you remember I got into that accident yesterday, right?"

"Uh-huh," she confirmed while nodding.

"Can you peeck it up for me? Eet ees supposed to be done at one. Eet ees at Rick's Garage," he said and gave her directions. "Did you get that, Katya?"

"I got it, Piotr," she said, putting her pen down. "I'm not that much of a ditz, ya know."

Piotr chuckled. "I know, Katya. I love you. Bye."

"Bye," she said softly, hanging up. _I love you_, the words echoed in her ears. She shook her head when she heard Ororo calling her for lunch. She hastily put her _Lance's Notes _back into the box and shoving it back behind her shoes. No use leaving evidence of having Lance's stuff around.

She went to the kitchen. Both Rogue and Amara were there, taking their plates. "Hey, Kitty," they both said. Kitty nodded to them.

"Say, Rogue, are you gonna go out again this afternoon?" Kitty asked, taking her salad.

"Maybeh. Why? Ya wanna come?" Rogue asked.

"Sure, but I have to, like, pick up Piotr's car from Rick's Garage, first," Kitty said.

Rogue look to Amara, who just shrugged. "Alraght," she said, nodding.

About an hour later, they were on the road, leaving the professor and Ororo in the house. "Where did ya say Rick's Garage was again?" Rogue asked.

"Um, I'm not sure," Kitty said after hesitating. Shethought she could memorize the directions. Apparently, it was not so. And, apparently, she was a ditz.

Rogue sighed. "Alraght, Kit, go through the directory. It's under your seat ah think," she said.

Kitty nodded and got it out. "Here it is," she said and recited the address to Rogue. By the time they got there, it was already about half past two. Kitty thanked the two and went in, asking for Piotr's car from the secretary. When she got her information, she went to Garage 3.

"Um, like, excuse me? I'm here to pick up Piotr Rasputin's car," she said after she had knocked on the wall softly. The mechanic had familiar brown hair. Her eyebrows furrowed at the thought. _Is it him?_

"Um, yeah, here it is," he said. He was not looking at her so it was hard for her to see his face.

Kitty huffed silently. "It's, like, more polite to look at someone in the face when they're talking to you, you know," she said indignantly.

She heard him sigh as he turned around. His head was bowed down though. But there was no mistaking that face, no matter how much it was shadowed. "Here's the keys to the car, miss," he said. He was quite polite despite being rude.

"You," she whispered, the slip fluttering to the floor.

"Me," he said. "Hey, Kit," he said in an attempt to make conversation, even if only for a while.

"Oh, um, hey, Lance," she said nervously. She cursed herself silently. How could she forget he worked here? _Damn it, Piotr, you so owe me_, Kitty thought furiously. He didn't even mention to her… Surely he would have known. "It's been a while." _Stupid thing to say, Pryde,_ she snapped at herself.

"Yea," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Um, hey, maybe you should go. I mean, you're kinda like about an hour and a half late."

"Yea, I'm sorry about that," she said sheepishly. "Lance?"

"Yeah, Kitty?"

"Do you think we can, like, talk for a moment?" she asked.

Lance actually considered saying no. Just like he used to when she asked him to do something he didn't want to. But even if she was no longer in love with him, he was still in love with her. He could never say no to that beautiful face.

"Sure," he sighed,"but only for while. Do you want to sit?"

She shook hr head no. She opened her mouth but it had chosen that moment to close up. She took a deep breath. Her throat was dry. What she was about to ask him was about the most craziest thing to do, especially when you had a loving boyfriend whose car you were supposed to be picking up, and a boyfriend who knew that they had dated.

"Lance, I was just wondering, ya know? Do you think we can, I dunno, be friends?" she asked tentatively.

He stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Won't tin-man be mad?" he said bitterly.

"His name is Piotr, Lance," she said exasperatedly. But when she noticed the hurt look on his face, she said gently, "It's just friends, Lance. What's the harm in that?"

_Because I want to be more than just friends. I want to go back to when they were eight months ago_, he wanted to say. But instead, he said, "Oh, look, hey, I gotta go. My shift ends in ten minutes."

"Lance," she pleaded. "Please?"

Lance sighed. As much as his heart wanted him to say yes, a part of him told him to stay away from her. It looked to him as though tin-man hadn't told her about his threat. Should he tell her?

"Kitty, I'll get someone else over here, alright?" he asked. He turned around to face her. There was that face. Again. He sighed once more. "Look, tin-grin told me to stay away from you. I'm only doing what he says."

"Wait, Piotr talked to you?" she asked. "When?"

"When the car was brought in," he said, stating the obvious.

"Did he threaten you?" she asked furiously. "He has absolutely no right to do that!" Ooh, bad sign. No valley-girl talk. She calmed down a bit as she opened the car door to put the key into the ignition. "Lance, I'm only asking to be friends. Please?"

He sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Fine, Kitty, but if he comes after me, I'm telling him you wouldn't stop pestering me," he teased. It was almost like old times. Almost.

"Okay. I better get going," Kitty said, closing the door. Lance signed the slip after he had picked it up from the floor. He passed it to her. "I'll see ya around."

"Yea," Lance said as she drove out. She had become a better driver after she had gotten her license. Why did he feel that things were about to become more complicated now?


	12. Chapter 12

**I Want You Back**

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing at all._

_Chapter 12_

"You did what!" Wanda exclaimed.

"I agreed to be friends with her," Lance said dejectedly. He had come home from work to a kitchen ready with dinner. He had told the rest of the Brotherhood of the unexpected meeting he had with his ex-girlfriend.

"First off, Lance, I don't get why you're so depressed if she asked you to be her friend. Second of all," Pietro said, "are you insane? Do you have a death wish we don't know about? If tin can finds out what you agreed to, you're dead!"

"Gee, it's nice to know you care, Pietro, really," Lance said sarcastically, as Wanda fixed a glare on him.

"In a sense, Pietro's right, yo!" Todd said. "He could squash you like a bug!"

"Keep talking, Toad, and _I'll _squash _you _like a bug!" Wanda said through gritted teeth and irritation.

"I could squash tin man for you, Lance! I took him down once," Fred said while eating a sub sandwich.

Lance managed a weak grin. "Thanks. I guess…"

"Ugh, I live with idiots!" Wand sighed in annoyance.

Pietro zipped to her side and put an arm around her shoulders. "Yea,-but-that's-why-you-love-us." He zipped back to his place across from her.

Wanda couldn't help but smile. She frowned at Lance. "Alright, mister, that's enough. That's your fifth can." She reached over and wrenched the half-full beer can out of his hands.

"I can't help it Wanda," he said, burying his face into his hands. He pulled on his hair. "I've waited for her to talk to me for months but now I'm not sure if that's what I want. I'm sure that's not what I want. I mean, being just friends is good. But I want more than that. I wanna be what I was to her a year ago." He stood up and swayed a little. "I'm gonna head out for a while."

"Oh, no you don't," Wanda said. She took his arm and grabbed his jeep keys from his loose hand. "You may not be very drunk, Lance, but you're intoxicated. And I'm not letting you drive and get yourself into an accident."

"But Wanda!" Lance whined.

"Pietro, catch!" Wanda said, throwing the keys to him.

"Pietro, give it!"

"No-way,-Lancey-boy," Pietro said, zipping into the living room.

"Pietro!" Lance snarled. He clenched his fists and the house started trembling.

"Hey, Lance, quit it, yo!" Todd said.

"Lance!" Wanda yelled, throwing her hands out and hexing his hands. The tremors ceased almost immediately. "You are not driving, and you are not leaving this house. Freddy, take him to his room!"

While whining and thrashing like a five-year-old, Fred picked Lance up and carried him up to his room with the rest of them following behind him. Todd and Pietro were snickering while Wanda did her best not to glare at them.

"Freddy, wait," Wanda said, moving forward and holding out an arm. "Pietro, go into Lance's room and take every cigarette pack and beer can you can find."

"Be-back-in-a-flash," Pietro said. Two seconds later, his arms were filled with said items.

Wanda nodded at Freddy and he proceeded to drop the now immobile Lance in his room who had feigned sleeping. When his rear end made contact with the floor and him giving out a grunt, he scrambled to get up but Wanda had already shut the door and had locked the door; with no way of getting out until Lance was completely sober. They walked down the stairs with the sounds of banging on the door heard.

"What should we do about him?"

Lance's ears perked up slightly. He had been leaning against his door for what seemed like hours with nothing to do. Sure, he had strummed his guitar for a while but even that lost its appeal after a while. He tried reading one of the many books Kitty had bought him, but it proved to be quite painful. The both of them had spent many nights just curled on his bed while Kitty read the novel to him as though he were a child. But it had felt nice. And at that time, he had actually imagined his life with her and with their children all with clear sapphire eyes and brown hair. But that image had shattered shortly after the break up.

"What-do-you-mean-'what-should-we-do-about-him'?"

Lance pressed his ear and hands against the door, trying to listen in on the Maximoff twins muffled conversation. He assumed Todd and Fred had retired for the night.

"I mean, the situation with Kitty and of them being friends."

He sighed. He shouldn't have agreed to it, but being able to talk to her once more and seeing her face that wasn't shadowed away had clouded his mind and had made him fall for her once more. It was already hard seeing her at the mall, or anywhere in fact, with her current love.

At first, when he had heard her voice out by the secretary's desk, he had been hesitant on facing her when Suzanne, the secretary, had told Kitty to go on ahead inside. He had almost escaped from facing her too, but he was just a second too late. And before he knew it, he was talking to her again. Actually talking to her. And in the end, when the conversation was coming to a close, for a moment it had almost seemed as though it was just like it was when they were happy together.

"Do you think we should even do anything?" Lance's eyebrows furrowed. Pietro was talking at normal human pace. "It's up to them to do what they like. It _was_ Kitty-Cat's decision to be friends with Lance. And he said yes."

"_Do you think we can, I dunno, be friends?"_

The question was fit for naïve five-year-olds who were meeting for the first time. But they weren't five years old. They were mature teenagers, or in Lance's case, a legal adult.

"Yes, I know that," Wanda said patiently. "But don't you think this might hurt Lance more? Even worse than before, I mean. Kitty's going to be torn between hanging out with Lance and going out on dates with Piotr. X-Men may be able to do a lot of things, but real life things are a bit of a challenge for them. Don't get me wrong. I respect Kitty. I just don't think this is a good idea at all. It was bad enough during the first few months, imagine what it'll be like now."

Lance felt his heart drop in slight disappointment. Wanda had a point. Kitty would be more willing to spend her time with Piotr rather than with him. But what if she did want to spend time with him?

"You may be on to something, sis," Pietro said.

Lance jumped slightly. They were right on the other side of this door seeing as how he could hear them even clearer than before. He frowned. He could almost imagine the twins looking at his closed door.

"We'll talk about this morning," Wanda sighed. "Good night, Pietro."

"'Night Wanda."

Lance sighed and got into bed himself. He wanted to know what tomorrow would bring to him. But at the same time, he dreaded it, not knowing what would happen exactly.

_A/N: Well, there's chapter 12. Finally got around to do it now that school's been let out. (From where I'm from anyway.) I was suffering from writer's block for this particular story. (Yes, it's way too early for that.) There's a wedding I'm attending this Sunday and I have the tiring task of welcoming guests. Heh. Hope you enjoyed this! Review, if you will. It makes me giddy whenever I see a new e-mail in my Inbox._


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